We, the parish of Sacred Heart, are committed to enriching the Spirituality of the parish family, the Christian community, and all brothers and sisters created in God's divine image and likeness.  We are called by the Holy Spirit, under the leadership of our Bishop and Pastor, to assist others through the development and promotion of various ministries.  We pray for Divine guidance that we may serve others with truth, courage, forethought, and compassion.

Today, we’ve just heard the Beatitudes.
By: Deacon Clary Nash

   Some of the misunderstanding of the Beatitudes is to think of them as another Ten Commandments from the Old Testament, that we all should follow as a way to heaven like we do with the Old Testament and if we don’t follow them, we may go someplace else.
This is a mistake. In the Beatitudes, Jesus is not setting out any rules or regulations. He’s telling us we are special we are blessed. This is the way Jesus see us. This is the way we should be happy to understand the greatness of God’s love for us and all things.
What Jesus tells us in the Beatitudes is why he and the Father love us. These are the ways of living that we were created for.  To personalize them and make them your own because it’s about our inner self our design intent.
   Now what kind of a crowd was Jesus talking to? They were ordinary people, some good, some bad, some there to pick pockets, some there to find out what the holy man had to say. These are the people that he addresses.  Somewhat like the world today.
A Beatitude, blessedness, basically is God’s blessing on something. Jesus will say, “Blessed are…” and then he says, “Blessed are the poor. Blessed are these…” It means congratulations, in a way. It means that the response to God’s blessing is saying, “I love you,” and therefore you should be happy, and you should be joyful because God’s blessing is God’s love and God’s approval. And God is saying to this whole rag tag group of people, “You’re just what my Father loves and cares for, and wants you to know more about Him,” and he will tell you what God is like because without God in your lives you cannot be happy and have fullness of life.
Blessed means to be very fortunate. “How fortunate you all are to know, to love and to be chosen by God.”
Blessed are the poor, the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God.  What does it mean to be poor in spirit? The best translation of that is: Blessed are all those who know their need for God, and God’s loving presence is given to you. Know your need for God.  And God knows His need for each one of us. For the Kingdom of God means the presence of God. .
   The second one is: “Blessed are the meek and humble of heart for they inherit the world.”
The meek are gentle people, kindly, accepting adversity with courage. Why is the world given to them? Because they’re no threat to anybody. They don’t covet the world. They appreciate everything, but they don’t have to have anything and, therefore, they walk freely throughout the world, detached, unselfishly but always looking out for other people, and helping others, and appreciating the presence and love of God in this world.
The next one is: “Blessed are those who mourn.” You may ask can you be happy when you’re mourning? And the response to it is, “And you will be comforted.”
   To mourn in biblical language and in religious language is not to sit there feeling sorry for yourself because something terrible happened to you. To mourn is to lament over the sin and sadness, the suffering and pain that is so common in our lives and in the world in which we live. Not feeling sorry for yourself, but for all peoples that are affected. And, therefore, when we lament, we show our compassion for others as well, our understanding, for them and become one with them in their tears.
There’s a great saying: when we cry together, God cries with us. We can point to Jesus in Gethsemane when he wept and lamented for the whole world. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted by each other, and they will be comforted by the presence of God Himself.
   The next one is: “Blessed are those who hunger for justice, and justice shall be given them.”
Justice here means righteousness. And what righteous means is blessed are those who are right with God, who are right with their neighbors and who are right with their own selves and their own heart. And if they hunger and thirst for this kind of relationship then, of course, it shall be given, for God Himself will give it to them.
The fifth one, is mercy. blessed are the merciful, they are promised that they shall obtain mercy.
Father Hanly says mercy is very hard to translate. He likes the Hebrew translation of mercy, blessed are the merciful, mercy is “the tenderness of a mother’s love.”  
   And so when we say, “Blessed are those who give this kind of tenderness to others,” this kind of God’s mothering tenderness, then they will have mercy shown them by God Himself. 
   Clean of heart. Clean of heart: we think of purity, and purity has nothing to do with that. Clean of heart shall see God, means single minded, one-track minded people. Beatitudes has little to do with the mind but everything with the heart. If you don’t love with your heart, you’ll never understand the Beatitudes.  Clean of heart means a one-track heart, the heart of Jesus who, when he was told to sum up his whole meaning, life, all the Old Testament, everything that was going to follow, said only one thing: love God with your whole heart and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the commandment that Jesus gave us.
     The peacemakers. Peacemakers shall be called the children of God. We know how important this is because when we look at the world in which we live, there is tension and distress. The peacemaker is a blessing to the world.   Every morning when I get up, I thank God for everything that has happened to me from the beginning till now, even the bad things and for everything that’s going to happen to me in the future, the good and the bad, I say, “Yes Lord and thank you.”  Trusting that our loving God knows what is best and will make everything right.  The peacemakers are called the children of God and rightly so. For Jesus came to bring us peace and we are his brothers and sisters. And it was the will of his Father that the whole world should live in peace and, therefore, those who work for peace on the smallest or greatest level, these are truly the children of God.
Finally, Jesus says, “blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. You should rejoice and be glad for your reward will be great in heaven.” Be happy because you’re on the right path to God’s healing and salvation.  God loves you, you are God’s marvelous creation, claim it and then live it.

Click for Parent Registration Forms.

We offer our prayer for peace in solidarity with the Holy Father, Pope Francis for Peace in Ukraine.

We ask for the intercession of St. Michael the Archangel the Patron Saint of Ukraine, to bring peace and hope to this nation and its people.

Lord, look down with mercy and compassion on Your humble servants, and out of love for mankind hearken and have mercy on us and on the land of Ukraine.

Lift up those who fight in defense of Ukraine and her much suffering people, outnumbered though they be.

With deep compassion and mercy enlighten and make glad the hearts of the civil authorities and strengthen them by Your might.

 St. Michael the Archangel Pray for us.

Sacred Heart Family,

Sacred Heart Grief Support Group is Helping families recover from the loss of a love one.  I also see a need for a Family Support Group to aid our families with a variety of needs, to be able to reach out in a safe and confidential way with other couples.  I would like to start a Sacred Heart Family Support Group.  The aim is to have family couples that are open minded and nonjudgmental that can listen to each other and share personal reflections.

The aim is to:
· Increase the strength and resilience of families
· Support better family relationships so to reach their full           potential
· Helps families make acquaintances with other families and     resources in the community
· Provides individualized, family-driven support that respects family culture, values, and preferences
 
Benefits
· Increases families' level of knowledge about family   relationships
· Connects parents with similar experiences
· Reduces the sense of stress and isolation
· Provides opportunities for families to support each other
 
Please let me know if you would be interested in starting this ministry at Sacred Heart.   Just email me individually at deaconnash@sacredheartshreveport.org
 
 
                                              Deacon Clary Nash
 

You can now donate/tithe/contribute online towards the needs of our church.
Please visit our online-giving page at the top bar of this page.

How the Lucky Calendar Numbers work for you  and
work for the good of the Church

This is what the fundraiser provides to this church:
 

• The intent is to gift 80% of sales above the cost of the program each year to the church.
• to provide a fun filled stress free Fall Fair for you, your family, and friends. 
• to show appreciation to Mother’s and Father’s by giving gifts this year and future.
• to help offset the cost to send our youth to different camps/events/retreats.
• If all 1,000 numbers are sold THIS year for 2022 calendar year, That equals $25,000.
• If all 1,000 numbers are sold, the guaranteed payout would be around $9,000

1. The gaming commission has approved this to be a fundraiser.
2. Each Lucky Calendar Number is assigned a 3-digit number
3. The winning numbers ARE the Louisiana Lottery Pick 3 numbers which are drawn & announced every night at 10 pm except Easter and Christmas when there is no drawing. 
4. For you, the payout is like this: if your number is drawn Monday through Friday, you win $25.00.  If it’s drawn on a Saturday, you win $35.00 and if it is drawn on a Sunday you win $50.
5. But if your # is drawn on one of the 20 selected special days listed on the Lucky Number, you win $100, $200 or $300 instead of the above prize.
6. There is no limit to how many times you can win, it’s all based on the Pick 3 numbers.
7. The Pastoral Council keeps up with the numbers, you don’t have to unless you choose to.
8. Each Monday winning numbers are recorded and checks are mailed. 
9. Each Lucky Calendar Number cost $25.

• Each Church family take 5 Lucky Numbers to sell to family, friends, and co-workers, etc. and be sure to turn in the address portion &  money in to the church.
• Buy one for yourself
• Buy one for your significant other
• Give as gifts

Have fun and play along.  You’ll be glad you did!

The Pastoral Council

After Wed. Morning Mass and
30 minutes before Weekend Masses)

Location:
4736 Lyba Street
Shreveport, LA   71109-0467

Postal Mail:
4736 Lyba Street
Shreveport, LA   71109-0467

Rectory:            318-635-2121
Church:             318-635-2121
Fax:                  318-635-5226
Gabriel Hall:     318-635-5446